MS. MYERS: This is an "in case you missed it."
Secretary Bentsen pointed out yesterday that in the first 100 days
after taking effect, the Brady Bill stopped more than five percent of
weapons purchases, so that's literally thousands of weapons that
might otherwise have been purchased by people with criminal
backgrounds or other problems were prevented from doing so. So
that's a little on the good news front. With that --

Q On that line, Sarah Brady is very critical of the
compromise reached on the crime bill because of the exception for the
pawnbrokers -- they can sell back guns to people. Does the President
still believe that exception is worth going ahead?

MS. MYERS: Oh, absolutely. The President said that he
didn't want any one element to hold up the crime bill. And I would
just point out that if you look at not who is against the bill but
who is for it, it has the overwhelming support of the law enforcement
community, people who are on the front lines of fighting crime,
whether it's the prosecutors or the police officers, or the district
attorneys, or the attorneys general, or any number of law enforcement
organizations from around the country who are very enthusiastically
advocating passage of the bill. We expect that it will come up in
the House. The rule will be voted on tomorrow, and then hopefully
the entire bill should the rule pass.

Q Do you have the votes for the bill?

MS. MYERS: I think we're optimistic. We're hopeful
that the House will take this up and vote passage tomorrow. He may
make a couple of phone calls on this later today just to make sure
that everything is on track.

Q Members of the hierarchy of the Treasury Department
up on Capitol Hill and elsewhere are contradicting each other in
seeming to have real questions about each other's veracity on a
number of matters. Doesn't the President feel that maybe he needs to
do something about the structure of his staffing over there? And
does he believe that he's getting really effective work out of the
Treasury Department team as it's currently construed?

MS. MYERS: The first point is, yes, absolutely he has
great faith in the Treasury Department under the leadership of
Secretary Bentsen. That has been a very effective department in the
past 18 months during this administration, and the President is
confident that it will continue to do that.

I would just point out that the three investigations
that have been already concluded, looking into contacts between the
White House and the Treasury, have concluded that no laws were broken
and no ethical standards were violated. We've cooperated fully here
at the White House, and the Treasury Department, as the President
instructed, and we expect that the congressional hearings will find
the same thing, that no legal or ethical standards were violated.

Q Does the President intend to make any changes in
his team?

MS. MYERS: At this point, the President has full
confidence in his team, in Secretary Bentsen, in Deputy Secretary
Roger Altman and the rest of the team over at Treasury.

Q What do you mean by "at this point"?

MS. MYERS: I should not qualify it. The President has
full confidence.

Q Dee Dee, is the First Lady now prepared to revise
the statement she made in her news conference on April 22nd that
Maggie Williams did not remove any documents from Vince Foster's
office, but that, in fact, the documents were simply transferred to
lawyers, as Bernard Nussbaum had suggested was appropriate?
Apparently Mrs. Williams has made it plain that, in fact, the
documents were in the residence safe for five days and were taken
there at Mrs. Clinton's direction by Ms. Williams. Is the First Lady
now going to revise what she said?

MS. MYERS: I think that it is true that Maggie didn't
remove any documents from Vince's office; they were removed by Bernie
Nussbaum.

Let me just make a couple of points. First of all, I
think that is one area that is still under investigation by Mr.
Fiske, and so I think it would be inappropriate for me to say too
much about it. You're free to call Lloyd Cutler if you want to
discuss more details about this. But I do think that a portion of
that leaked out -- I don't know where it came from -- and so Maggie
Williams and others at the White House have confirmed that, in fact,
files were transferred from --

Q It's in a memo --

MS. MYERS: No, I'm just pointing out -- the source of
this story originally was something that leaked out from the ongoing
investigation. It has, I'm pointing out, in fact, been confirmed by
people at the White House that the files went from Mr. Nussbaum to
Maggie for safekeeping over the weekend while Bob Barnett and others
went to Little Rock for the funeral of Mr. Foster.

The President and the First Lady did not look at those
files. A messenger from Mr. Barnett's office, who was then acting as
the President and First Lady's personal attorney, picked the files up
on Monday and took them to Williams & Connally.

QQ Was the President aware that that was done?

MS. MYERS: I don't believe so.

Q It was in the residence safe?

MS. MYERS: There is an office on the third floor, and,
I think, a closet with a lock where they keep some of their personal
documents.

Q Who had access to them in the meantime and while
they were there, do you know?

MS. MYERS: I don't know.

Q Why those files, of all the files in Foster's
office?

MS. MYERS: I don't know if they -- exactly what files
there were. And again, this is something that is continuing to be
investigated by Mr. Fiske, and so it's --

Q That would be the reason thy the First Lady would
have nothing further to say at this time?

MS. MYERS: I think that there's an ongoing
investigation looking into this. And again, I think we did what we
could to clarify events around a memo that was leaked. But at this
point, I think we will -- I would refer you to Mr. Cutler's office
for any additional questions.

Q Was it not also indicated at the time that the
President -- neither the President, nor the First Lady was given any
briefings based upon the information given by Treasury and-or RTC
officials to White House aides? That appears to be contradicted by
the presence of this rather long Harold Icke's memo to Mrs. Clinton,
doesn't it?

MS. MYERS: I don't think I'm going to comment on that
at this time. I think the President has made a statement about what
he knew and when he knew it, and I don't think it would be
appropriate for me to say anything more.

Q If I could just follow up on what Brit was asking,
one more thing. Without going back voluminously through the record,
it's my recollection that both you and Mark were asked a lot of
questions in the last few months about the chain of custody of those
papers, and made statements that I'm sure you believed were true at
the time, but Maggie must have known were not.

MS. MYERS: I think that's a fair point. And I think,
in hindsight, we should have been more clear about exactly what the
chain of custody on those documents was. And I think that was a
mistake. And I think after March, when documents and individuals
were subpoenaed and we began cooperating with the ongoing
investigation, I think then it was difficult for us to talk to one
another here about specific incidents. But in hindsight, I think
clearly we should have been more specific about the chain of custody
for those documents.

Q So, Dee Dee, are you saying then that you did know
what the chain of custody was?

MS. MYERS: No, I said earlier today that I did not
know. But we as the White House --

Q So when you say you should have been clearer,
meaning --

MS. MYERS: That we, the White House, should have been
more clear about the chain of custody on the documents.

Q So Maggie should have told you or told someone?

MS. MYERS: I don't think it's useful to go through
exactly who should have said what to whom, other than I think we left
a misimpression. And I think in hindsight, we should have been more
careful not to do that.

Q But you were in a situation then, you're saying,
where you were making erroneous statements. Maggie Williams was
noting your erroneous statements and making no move to correct them.

MS. MYERS: No, I think my statements were incomplete.
I don't know that they were -- they certainly were not intentionally
misleading. They were incomplete and -- but I think -- again, I'm
not going to point fingers or name names, but I think that there were
additional facts that we could have presented that would have made it
more clear what the exact chain of custody was; and in hindsight, we
should have done that.

But after March, I think it became difficult due to the
ongoing investigations. And again, we were very -- on the advice of
counsel, I think, restricted from talking to one another about
specific incidents.

Q Whose responsibility is it to make sure that you,
as the President's spokesman, have that information or are able to
make those points clear?

MS. MYERS: Well, I think that depends. I think --
again, I --

Q In this case, is there any responsibility on Maggie
Williams?

MS. MYERS: I don't think it's useful to get into that.
I certainly think Maggie is an excellent representative of the
President and First Lady. She's very straightforward and works
extremely hard. I'm certainly not here to implicate anybody. I
think clearly we've made some mistakes, particularly around the end
of the year, the beginning of this year, with reference to some of
the answers that we provided. I think we've acknowledged that in the
past. And, again I think we could have been a little clearer about
the chain of custody on those documents. But I think we've done what
we can to confirm the facts as we know them since.

Q On Haiti, can you give us an update on where the
White House stands vis-a-vis a possible compromise with Cedras
departing in exchange for perhaps new elections in which Aristide may
be a candidate, but in which he would not necessarily be directly
restored by the United States?

MS. MYERS: There's been no change in our policy, which
is that we do not recognize the de facto government of Haiti under
the auspices of the military rulers and their friends. We would not
recognize any elections there under that regime. There is certainly
not an atmosphere there conducive to democratic elections. What we
continue to insist upon is the restoration of democracy and the
return of President Aristide, who was duly elected and still has time
left in his term, which we expect that he will serve.

Q Would you be willing to discuss or accept a
compromise in which democracy was restored, but Aristide may not be
restored?

MS. MYERS: There's been no change in our position. We
expect democracy to be restored, and President Aristide, who was
elected with 67 percent of the Haitian people's vote as their elected
leader, to be restored as well.

Q When Richardson met with the President last week,
was there any discussion of a possible slight of hand that would
achieve some kind of an exit of the Cedras regime?

MS. MYERS: No.

Q Dee Dee, to follow up on Haiti, Congressman
Richardson has been invited back. Does the White House think he
should go?

MS. MYERS: I don't know who here -- I was unaware of
his invitation --

Q Cedras apparently has --

MS. MYERS: I'm just not aware that he was invited.
Last time, he was briefed by people in the administration about what
the details of our policy were and where we were. He went down there
on his own initiative certainly as a congressman. He is free to
travel as he sees fit. But if he's heading back down there, I'm sure
he'll talk with us and we can have a chance to talk about where we
are in this process.

Q I think what he's saying is that he'd like White
House approval before he went back.

MS. MYERS: I don't know whether he's contacted anybody
here yet, or not. I would expect that he would to talk to people
here. But if that conversation takes place, we'll have a little more
to say about what our expectations for his trip are. He went as an
individual citizen the last time, as you know, as a member of
Congress.

Q was reported today of people standing in line in
Port au Prince to apply for asylum and taken out of line by Haitian
thugs and then a warning has been sent at least through, I believe,
the U.S. Embassy to news organizations down there to be careful what
they print. Your view of these things, and also, given these
developments and the state of siege now being in place for 24 hours,
has the threat assessment for Americans down there or foreigners in
general changed?

MS. MYERS: I don't think that we've issued any
additional advisories out of the State Department. I can doublecheck
that and get back to you. As far as I know there has been no
additional -- obviously, we're very concerned about reports that
people who were waiting to apply for asylum in Port au Prince or
other places were roughed up. We're looking into that through our
embassy down in Haiti. Obviously, we're very concerned about it, and
we continue to watch the situation generally. But I know of no other
official advisories or warnings.

Q Do you have anything on the shooting of one of the
opposition leaders?

MS. MYERS: No, nothing for you on that.

Q Back to the Whitewater hearings -- Roger Altman
testifies this afternoon, and he says that he's going to stay and
fight and won't be the fall guy. Does the President also want Altman
to stay and fight?

MS. MYERS: The President has confidence in Roger
Altman, thinks he's done an excellent job as Deputy Secretary of the
Treasury and hopes that he'll stay on.

Q Some people looked at the statement that was issued
last week, the one-sentence statement supporting Altman, and
interpreted it as in fact being sort of an invitation to leave. Do
you think -- what do you think of that?

MS. MYERS: I think that's ludicrous. The President put
out a statement affirming his faith in a member of his sub-Cabinet.
I think that that speaks for itself. The statement said the
President had confidence in Mr. Altman and hoped that he would stay
on, and I think that should be taken at face value. The President
has confidence in Roger Altman and hopes that he'll stay on. He's
done an excellent job, he's a key member of the economic team in this
administration, he's well respected by his colleagues both in the
White House, at the Treasury Department, and around the
administration. And I think the President's words speak for
themselves.

Q And who do you want to be the fall guy?
(Laughter.)

Q If not him, who? If not now, when?

Q How about the General Counsel? Does he feel that
same way about her?

MS. MYERS: He stands by all the employees at Treasury.

Q Rita asked about this first, and then Susan took a
stab at it. The President says he has confidence in Altman and in
Bentsen. But what's happened the last two days is, under oath,
Treasury Department officials are contradicting one another. And
Fiske's investigation notwithstanding, that's never happened before.
Does that create any kind of problem --

MS. MYERS: I don't know that that's never happened
before. I certainly wouldn't be willing -- in what context has it
never happened before?

Q I meant in context of Whitewater. This is a new
thing that's happened in the last two days. That's why we're asking
about it.

MS. MYERS: Well, certainly people have different --

Q You keep saying he's doing a good job --

MS. MYERS: Right.

Q but what we're saying that based on what's
happened yesterday and today, is this a problem at all that these
three officials are telling different stories under oath?

MS. MYERS: I think that that is -- sometimes people
have different recollections or differing recollections of events.
It is certainly not for the White House to try to sort those out. I
would just remind you that three investigations have been conducted
about the contacts that are now being discussed on the Hill -- one by
Mr. Fiske, one by the Office of Government Ethics, and one by White
House Counsel Lloyd Cutler. All three of those -- well, Mr. Fiske's
concluded that no laws were broken; and the OGE and White House
inquiries concluded that no ethical standards were broken.

The congressional hearings will go forward. I think Mr.
Altman will have his chance to respond and to answer the members of
Congress and members of Senate's questions today, and we'll wait and
hear what he has to say. But I think certainly every bit of
evidence, every conclusion to date supports that nothing -- no
wrongdoing was committed. And so I think --

Q Well, you said, in answer to my question, different
recollections. Is the White House confident that that's all this is,
differing recollections?

MS. MYERS: Don't -- it's not for me or the White House
or the President to make those judgments. There are three
independent -- or two independent investigations and one White House
Counsel inquiry which looked at these questions and reached
conclusions based on the facts, and talked to all the people
involved.

Q But the conclusion, wasn't it, that there was
nothing illegal --

MS. MYERS: Nothing illegal and no ethical standards
were broken.

Q Does that mean that the general standards of
probity, propriety, willingness to be forthcoming that Mr. Clinton
has set for his administration have been met? How can that be so in
the face of this welter of contradictions?

MS. MYERS: Well, I think, first of all, people have
been extremely forthcoming, extremely cooperative with all the
ongoing inquiries, including the current congressional inquiry. I
think -- what was the first part of your question; I lost my train of
thought.

Q Well, I'm just saying that, yes, they've been
cleared of official violations of one kind or another; that doesn't
meant Mr. Clinton's standards --

MS. MYERS: The point I wanted to make was -- of course,
the President does not -- would expect the truth and straightforward
responses from all members of this administration, which I think all
members have provided to the best of their ability. But I think Mr.
Cutler, in his testimony and in subsequent conversations with you all
in the media, has said that some errors in judgment were committed
and some mistakes were made, and that he has, among other things,
tried to make it clearer to people here in the White House what their
obligations are, what the rules are and how best to follow those to
avoid making similar mistakes in the future.

I wouldn't say that no mistakes were made. Clearly, I
think we've admitted that some were. But I think that the three
investigations have concluded that no laws were broken and no ethical
standards were violated. I think the President, of course, would
expect the highest standards of professional integrity from every
single member of this administration.

Q In his prepared statement, Altman apologizes if he
misled anyone. Do you think an apology is warranted in this case?

MS. MYERS: I leave that to Mr. Altman's judgment. But
I think if he feels that he inadvertently misled someone and he feels
that it's appropriate to apologize, then that's a good thing.

Q Do you have any concerns that the -- on the subject
of health care -- that the Senate bill that Senator Mitchell is
introducing today will undercut attempts in the House to get more
expanded coverage and employer mandates?

MS. MYERS: From everything -- I think Senator Mitchell
is scheduled to do his press conference at what -- 3:00 p.m. -- and I
think all expectations are that his bill will include universal
coverage through employer mandates somewhere down the line.

Q But it's triggered down the road and it's a soft
trigger and it's not nearly what the House bill is.

MS. MYERS: I don't know if it's a soft trigger. I
haven't seen the final language; I think it's a fairly hard trigger.
But I think that it is now up to the various -- to the two Houses to
pass the various versions of their bills and then to work it out in
conference. I think what's most important, and what the President is
very gratified about, is that both bills contain commitment to
universal coverage, cost containment, and they both preserve choice
and quality within the system.

Q If you were a House member, why would you go to the
well and vote for employer mandates against the opposition of
lobbyists in your district when the Senate is taking a dive on that?

MS. MYERS: Well, I think we'll have to let the
legislative process play itself out here. I think clearly there will
be some byplay, some back and forth between the House and the Senate
as the decisions about when and what to vote on first are reached.
And I think we'll have to wait until next week to see exactly how the
votes are scheduled. I think Senator Mitchell said he expected the
first votes on his bill could come as early as the middle of next
week.

And I think that certainly there will be an attempt by
both Houses and whatever extent we can help do that to facilitate
voting in both Houses and reach some kind of a mutually acceptable
bills in both Houses that can lead to a conference report that will
pass.

Q Is retaining some form of employer mandate critical
to the President's support for the Mitchell plan?

MS. MYERS: What is critical to the President is
universal coverage. And what he has said is that nobody has shown
him a way to get to universal coverage other than some kind of a
shared responsibility between employers and employees.

As he's said all along, he'd be open to looking at other
ways to get there. But nobody's been able to show him one other than
an employer mandate or some kind of shared responsibility. That
builds on the current system -- the current private sector system
that we have now; it is the least disruptive; and it does get you to
universal. So we'll see exactly what's in Senator Mitchell's bill.
But certainly, from all of his conversations with the President,
between the President and Senator Mitchell, I think the President
believes the Senator is going to produce a bill that he will be able
to support.

Q Dee Dee, the Whitewater hearings are going on just
as health care is really reaching the crescendo here. What is the
White House understanding of the impact that these hearings will have
on the health care debate?

MS. MYERS: Well, I think first, as the President has
made clear, everybody here has done everything they can to cooperate
with the ongoing congressional inquiries.

But I think that the general public and certainly people
that are here are much more engaged in the debate and the battle to
win passage of health care reform. That is one of the President's --
it is his primary domestic policy goal this year. It is one of the
things that he ran for President to achieve. It is certainly much
more important in terms of the future of this country than the
ongoing hearings.

We'll continue to cooperate; we'll do everything we can
to make sure that we provide the documents and the individuals that
the Senate and the House request. But it's not going to interfere
with our fight to pass health care. I don't think it is something --
I think the American people are much more interested in knowing
whether or not they'll be able to keep their health care if their
child gets sick or they change jobs or they move, than in additional
information that's already been explored by three separate inquiries;
although, certainly, we will continue to cooperate.

Q But just the fact that the hearings are taking
place, it seems at least in the polls that people are more concerned,
they have more doubts about the President. And could that have an
impact on his political strength --

MS. MYERS: Well, I think what's more likely to have an
impact is -- I'll leave that for you all to analyze, but I think if
you look at what's happening -- for example, the crime bill. It was
stalled in Congress for six years. I think with the President's --
it's something that he cares a great deal about, something we had fun
talking about this last week, but something that he campaigned on
every day -- calling for 100,000 new police officers, a ban on
assault weapons, more community policing, more money for prevention,
all those things that are now in the crime bill, which we expect will
pass -- we hope will pass the House tomorrow and the Senate sometime
next week. I think that will have more of an effect on people
understanding the kind of progress this administration is making and
is committed to making. And I think that will have more of an effect
on the health care debate than anything else.

Q You don't think that it has any impact on the
polls?

Q I mean, the crime bill has passed every election
year in Congress. What did you mean by that?

MS. MYERS: There hasn't been a crime bill passed in six
years. That was passed and signed into law? Six years -- this one's
been in the works since 1988.

Q On Bosnia -- any comments about Serbia's warning to
the Bosnian Serbs before tomorrow's meeting -- the Bosnian Serbs are
going to meet tomorrow and President Milosevic made a strong warning
today --

MS. MYERS: Oh, that they should accept the Contact
Group plan.

Q Yes.

MS. MYERS: Certainly that's our position. Their
refusal to do so far we believe is a mistake. As the Contact Group
said on Saturday, there will be consequences for their continued
refusal to accept the plan, beginning with expanded sanctions and
increased enforcement of existing sanctions, as well as a discussion
which will result in, I think, additional resolutions down the line
for expanding exclusion zones and expanding enforcement of those
exclusion zones. Ultimately, this could lead to the lifting of the
arms embargo if things continue.

Now, I think the Bosnian Serbs know that; we've made
that very clear to them, and we continue to urge them to accept the
Contact Group's plan as the only viable step toward peace.

Q Several questions on the press conference tomorrow
night. Did the White House originally want to do an address to the
nation as opposed to a press conference?

MS. MYERS: No, it was always envisioned as a press
conference -- well, actually, I shouldn't say that. I'm confusing
two topics in my own head. We discussed a number of things on health
care, but decided to do a press conference.

Q You weren't turned down, you just decided press
conference instead. Is that correct?

MS. MYERS: Yes. We sort of discussed a number of
options and decided that this was the best way to go for a couple of
reasons. One, I think we're at a critical point in the debate on
health care, and it's an opportunity for the President to talk
directly to the American people about that. It's also been a while
since we've had an open-ended press conference where you all could
ask questions about anything that was on your minds, and I think
there's a lot of things out there on both foreign and domestic policy
that you might have questions about.

Q Are all the networks going to cover it as far as
you know --

MS. MYERS: They've certainly been notified. We're
hopeful, but they don't make commitments an we certainly aren't able
to request them.

Q Is this basically a health care press conference
from the President's point of view, or will he talk about something
on Haiti in particular or --

MS. MYERS: No, it's not on Haiti. I think there's been
some misinformation to that end out there. He will open with a brief
statement, probably around five minutes, where he will focus on
health care, but will probably also touch on crime -- especially if,
as we hope, the crime bill passes the House tomorrow, and probably
the economy and the progress the economy has made in the last 18
months under the President's stewardship. And then he'll throw it
open to questions which will be open-ended.

Q When will the President talk to the nation about
Haiti? And what is a far-off deadline -- at some point at which
there is an end here on Haiti?

MS. MYERS: First of all, there is no scheduled address
on Haiti. Certainly the President will talk about it. He'll very
likely be asked a question about it tomorrow night and he'll continue
to talk about it. But there is certainly nothing scheduled, nothing
formal. In terms of a time line, we continue to pursue our policy
which included tightening sanctions. We're in the process of, I
think within the next two weeks, we'll have an expanded multinational
observer group on the Dominican border to help tighten down sanctions
there.

As you know on Saturday, the last commercial flight left
Port au Prince. There's now no longer any commercial air links
between Haiti and the rest of the world, so I think there's an
increasing sense of isolation in Haiti, which is having an effect.
There are some signs of fissure and pressure being placed on the
military by some of their former supporters.

The bottom line is, we're continuing to focus on our
sanctions policy. At the same time, the President has not ruled
anything out. He hasn't taken any options off the table. We now
have cleared the diplomatic hurdle in the U.N., giving the President
flexibility on this. But we don't have any time lines, I don't
expect we'll set any.

Q Doesn't Cedras expect a deadline?

MS. MYERS: At this point, we have no plans to. We're
going to continue to pursue the sanctions policy. We think it's
having some effect.

MS. MYERS: I don't think that the coup leaders in Haiti
should have any questions or any doubts about this. President
Clinton and this administration is very serious about it. It is our
objective to restore democracy and President Aristide. The
international community supports that, as was evidenced in the 12-0
vote on Sunday in the United Nations in support of this policy, and I
think we're moving ahead.

Q You say that as you note, this is a critical time
for the health care debate. But is there also a sense within the
administration that this is a critical time for the Clinton
presidency? As you've also noted, the economic figures have
generally been good, but the personal approval ratings don't come
anywhere near reflecting that.

MS. MYERS: I think that throughout history, presidents,
leaders committed to change have found the environment for making
change difficult. And this President came in with a number of major
changes that he wanted to see, starting with the budget. And people
said a year ago, as we were in the final phases of that budget
battle, that this budget would be sort of armageddon; that if we did
this, we would eliminate jobs, plunge the country further into a
recession, and basically destroy life as we know it in the free
world.

I think most of those predictions have not only been
wrong, but the exact opposite has taken place. We've seen strong
economic growth, low inflation, very, very strong job creation.
Manufacturing and all kinds of other sectors of the economy are
picking up.

So I think that the President is going to continue to
push for change. It's not easy. I think, certainly, get the crime
bill done and the health care bill done this year -- people will,
hopefully, judge him by his results.

Q But, again, the question is, is this a critical
time for this presidency?

MS. MYERS: I think it is an important time for this
presidency, sure. I don't think it's any secret that this President
has worked and fought very hard to pass health care reform. He
thinks it's critical not only to the health of individual citizens of
this country, but as he made clear, important to our long-term fiscal
health -- that unless you can do something to contain the costs of
entitlements and the growth in entitlements which is driven in many
ways by health care spending, then you can't bring the deficit down
and you can't install the kind of fiscal responsibility that he
thinks is critical to long-term economic health in this country. So
this is a very important fight to him; there's no question about it.

Q On health care, Senator Mitchell, who I believe was
scheduled to unveil his bill on the Senate floor prior to his press
conference at 3:00 p.m. -- are you saying that the portion of the
bill that calls for everybody else to be brought -- everybody above
95 percent to be brought into as part of universal coverage sometime
after 2000 meets what you have consistently said is the President's
goal of a reasonable time? Has the President been told what that
time frame is, he knows what it is and that's acceptable to him as a
reasonable time for universal coverage?

MS. MYERS: Again, I don't know if we've seen the final
details of the bill, but generally, in his discussions with Senator
Mitchell he has concluded that, as described, Senator Mitchell's bill
is something that he could support.

Q Is the President going to try to help settle the
baseball strike?

MS. MYERS: Secretary Reich, as you know, has had
conversations with the mediators on both sides. I think the
administration has offered to be helpful. I think it is our view
that in these kinds of disputes, it is best that the two sides can
sit down together and work out their differences across the table.
If we can be helpful toward that end, I think we will. At this
point, again, Secretary Reich is leading the effort in having
conversations.

Q Is the President personally doing anything or
making any calls?

MS. MYERS: No.

Q

MS. MYERS: Not that I know of.

Q question on the AIDS Policy Director. The
appointment of an interim director -- does that mean you're
continuing to search, that the interim person isn't your final
choice?

MS. MYERS: Correct. She's made it very clear that she
expects to serve only in the interim. I believe today is Kristine
Gebbie's last day. And we wanted somebody strong, familiar with the
issue, respected by the community to serve in that job in the
interim. But we expect -- I think she said she would serve no later
than the middle of September, maybe the end of September. So we
fully expect to have a new AIDS coordinator named by that time.

Q said during the appointment of the last one that
they were upset with the delay and they were expressing concern again
today that there appears to be another long delay in picking someone.
Do you have a time line or anything like that?

MS. MYERS: Again, I think that the interim director has
said she will only stay for a short period of time, a matter of
weeks, and we fully expect to have a new AIDS coordinator before she
goes back to HHS.

Q Is there anything wrong with the leading contenders
--

MS. MYERS: We just haven't reached a conclusion on it
yet. I think there are a number of strong candidates. And again, we
expect to have a permanent appointment soon.

Q It was evident that when the President appointed
Kristine Gebbie that he felt she had all the qualities you listed
herself. What went wrong with her tenure?

MS. MYERS: Well, I think she chose to resign. So maybe
that's a question better directed to her. I think the President said
at the time that she'd done a good job, she'd served ably and well.
She felt it was time to move on, and so we're looking for a
replacement.

Q Was there any effort by the administration to get
her to reconsider?

MS. MYERS: I don't think so. But I think it was her
decision to go. I think the President respected that decision.

Q Is it the nature of the job that, because of all
the activist groups that are as activist as they are, that perhaps
it's an --

MS. MYERS: There's no question it's a difficult job;
primarily because, I think, people are dying. And no matter how much
you do, you have to wonder if it's ever enough as long as people are
continuing to die of this terrible disease. So I think anybody
coming in has to understand that they're racing against the clock and
it's going to be a difficult battle every single day. But I think
there are, fortunately, people out there who are willing to take it
on.

Q Dee Dee, does the President have any comment on the
amendment that was voted in the Senate yesterday to deny federal
funding to any school district that teaches homosexuality as a way of
life?

MS. MYERS: I don't have anything for you on that.

Q Will you take that?

MS. MYERS: Sure.

Q Dee Dee, back on Haiti for a second -- Dole has a
resolution that would require congressional approval before any
invasion. Does Clinton believe that he would need congressional
approval if he decides to go into Haiti? Does he object to that?

MS. MYERS: We will continue to consult with Congress,
as we have throughout this process. That is not an amendment that we
would support.

Q Why?

Q Does he believe he doesn't need congressional
approval, in his opinion?

MS. MYERS: I think he'll continue to consult with
Congress, but that's all I'll say about it. We will consult with
Congress, but would not support a resolution that would require
approval.

Q Why not?

MS. MYERS: Because the President believes that
consulting with Congress is the right thing to do and that it would
interfere with his ability to make foreign policy.

Q Why does he think it's more important to get the
approval of the United Nations other than the Congress?

MS. MYERS: Well, I think it's important to signal to
send to the coup leaders in Haiti that this is not just the U.S.,
it's the international community. And I think that continues to put
pressure on the coup leaders in Haiti to do what they must do, which
is step aside. Certainly the President has talked with Congress
about this, will continue to do that; consultations are ongoing on a
regular basis.

Q How would the President feel about a debate in
Congress, to be followed by a vote, as occurred before the Gulf War,
for example? Does the President want that to occur, or not?

MS. MYERS: At this point, I would say that we just have
-- that's perhaps premature. He would not support the Dole
amendment; we'll continue to consult.

Q What's premature? The consideration of an
invasion?

Q By Congress?

MS. MYERS: Yes, the discussion of a -- the vote with a
specific time line and all that.

Q Suppose the debate were on a resolution comparable
to the resolution adopted by the U.N.? Surely you're not saying that
the time is right for the U.N. to act, but for the U.S. Congress to
please be quiet?

MS. MYERS: No, I simply meant that the President
doesn't plan to go to Congress with any kind of question like that at
this point.

Q I understand that. But the question, though, was
how would he feel about a congressional debate and vote on a measure
comparable to the U.N. measure?

MS. MYERS: I think, certainly, that's Congress'
prerogative. I don't know whether there are any plans in Congress to
do that.

Q Do you welcome a debate?

Q Are you saying that the President feels he could
invade Haiti without congressional approval -- yes or no?

MS. MYERS: First of all, as I think we made clear a
number of times, the President has not ruled that out. And we have
had and will continue to have discussions with Congress about this.
This is something, of course, we would expect and wish to hear from
Congress on, that process is ongoing.

Q The President feels he can invade Haiti without a
direct vote of Congress, not consult, but a direct vote?

MS. MYERS: I think that that's clear.

Q The War Powers Act and all that -- does he feel
this applies?

MS. MYERS: We have always said we would act consistent
with the War Powers Act, and we would continue to consult Congress as
we have throughout this process.

Q You said it is clear that you do not have to go
seek approval?

MS. MYERS: Consistent with.

Q The schedule for the rest of the week.

Q You're talking about his power as Commander-in -
Chief?

MS. MYERS: Correct.

Tomorrow the President has no public appearances. He
has a series of just meetings, internal meetings about a number of
things until the press conference which is at 8:00 p.m. Again,
expect about a five minute opening statement and then 25 or 30
minutes of questions.

On Thursday there's a Cabinet meeting which is at 9:00
a.m. The main topic will be health care. The Cabinet, just by way
of background, has been extremely active in the health care reform
fight as has the President. In fact, just as a little primer, they
have done in the past two weeks over 80 editorial boards, 150 radio
interviews and more than 50 health care events.

In the next couple of weeks I think you can expect an
equally vigorous push by members of the Cabinet. So we'll see if
there is going to be a pool spray at the top of that. And then at
4:00 p.m. he's doing the Young American Medals ceremony. That's it
for Thursday.

Friday there are no public events on the schedule.
There will something on Friday, there will be an economic event on
Friday. We're still working through the details. But in addition
to, I think, getting some additional figures -- I think unemployment
figures come out on Friday -- it will be roughly one day short of a
year since the President's budget passed. So I think it will be an
opportunity for us to reflect a little bit on the last 12 months.

Q There is this big push on health care, and there's
no event Wednesday, Thursday or Friday?

MS. MYERS: Well, Wednesday there's a prime-time press
conference where the President will talk to potentially millions of
Americans.

Q No events Thursday and Friday?

MS. MYERS: Nothing on Thursday at this point and on
Friday we're going to focus on the economy for a day. In the
meantime though I think --

Q Is there a statistic or something coming out on
Friday?

MS. MYERS: It's more tied to the one-year anniversary
of the budget passing.

Q Unemployment numbers maybe?

MS. MYERS: Unemployment numbers do come out on Friday.
But certainly there will be a lot of other opportunities -- the Vice
President is doing events; the First Lady is doing events this week
on health care.

Q The Vice President's in Poland. Is he doing health
care --

MS. MYERS: Then he's back. I think he comes back --
he's actually in Kiev today. On Thursday the Vice President will
speak to a health care rally on Capitol Hill. On Friday the First
Lady will speak to Health Right, which is a health care advocates
group on Capitol Hill. Today Mrs. Gore greeted the Southern and
Central Express -- at the Naval Observatory this morning. The
Cabinet will be fanning out all over the country. There will be no
shortage of health care events, and I think the President will
continue to be very involved.

On Saturday night he goes to Detroit, which is a
fundraiser. There will be no public events.

Q Just a fundraiser?

MS. MYERS: Just a fundraiser. He'll probably take the
pool. I don't know yet whether the event is open for pool remarks.
We'll check into that, but it's just go out to Detroit and come right
back.

Q Being paid for by the Democratic National
Committee?

MS. MYERS: Yes, and I was going to get some information
on that which I haven't yet done.

Q What time does he leave?

MS. MYERS: Do we have Saturday here. I think I only
have through Friday. I take that back. He leaves -- it's all TBA.
So, that's the schedule and Sunday is a down day.

Q What happened to plans for a health care rally in
Detroit on Saturday and also for the President to greet the bus
people Wednesday, I think?

MS. MYERS: I guess the Vice President is doing that.
They're still coming here tomorrow and meeting with the First Lady.
The First Lady will do that event; the President is just going to do
the press conference tomorrow. And on Thursday the Vice President
will do the event on Capitol Hill which the President was never
scheduled to do.

Q Is he trying to put some distance between himself
and the bus people?

MS. MYERS: I think after stops in Independence,
Missouri, and yesterday in Liberty Park, New Jersey, that that's
really not true.

Q Will the bus people actually come here?

Q The "bus people." (Laughter.)

MS. MYERS: The bus people will be here tomorrow to see
the First Lady.

Q What about the Saturday rally in Detroit?

MS. MYERS: We had talked about possibly doing an event,
but I think he's just going to do the fundraiser now.

Q Is it because you've seen protestors each time
you've gone out?

MS. MYERS: No.

Q It's unrelated?

MS. MYERS: No, I think there have been a minimal of
protestors. At the President's events? You weren't with us on
either Saturday or Monday.